[w4rtc]

HI All
For years I have had a local transmitter, transmitting Old Time Radio 24/7. I use winamp and it would drop the connection about once or twice a week. Now all of sudden it drops every 10 or 15 minutes. I have to go and click on the play button. . I am not a computer expert, any ideas??
Joe

[Ron Ramirez]

Hi Joe

(Great to see you and your son Tim last weekend, by the way.)

How old is the computer you use to supply the audio to your transmitter? Does it have adequate memory (RAM)? Are any other programs running at the same time as Winamp?

That said, I have noticed lately that every once in a while, Winamp will crash on the computer I am using to play 1950s music through my SSTRAN, leaving it broadcasting only a dead carrier until I discover I am off the air and restart Winamp. I am using a 2007 vintage Compaq PC that runs Vista, and only will take 2 GB RAM max (which it has). I am thinking about switching to another older computer I have, an HP that has 4 GB RAM, and switching to Windows Media Player instead of Winamp.

And I did not have this problem before we moved.

[Raleigh]

Just out of curiosity, how do you do this? Do you have a large library of music on your computer that you build into playlists, or do you stream from the web, or other? I've streamed Pandora to my SSTRAN, but I haven't tried playlists yet.

[Ron Ramirez]

I think Joe is using an internet stream for his audio source.

And that just made me think - I wonder if your (Joe's, that is) internet provider is throttling (limiting) your bandwidth? Some ISPs are doing that these days, especially since the Net Neutrality rules are no longer in effect.

As for me, I am running a playlist of tunes which are on my computer, so no internet connection is needed for what I am doing.

[morzh]

Streaming music does not require huge bandwidth.
Have you made sure your home network is good?
It could be ISP too, you could take it up with them if you find out your home equipment is functioning properly.

Now, are you streaming from Internet or from local server?
If from Internet, could the server you stream from drop the connection?

[skyscraper]

Running www.speedtest.net on your fastest computer and the streaming computer would tell you whether it's the isp or something locally.
Anything over 1.5mbit should be able to sustain a 128k music stream, as long as there isn't a lot of other traffic. Can you stream without problems from other sources?

[w4rtc]

HI All
Sorry for the delay. I am steaming from the internet. For two years or more I have had to reset the net approx once a week or sometimes every two weeks. Now all of the sudden I have to reset it about every 15 or 20 minutes. ( when I say reset I mean click the play button on winamp) I have been doing some testing and found that my Ipad does not drop the connection. So I am reinstalling windows and only put what I have to have to make the PC work. I did some reading on the internet and most comments say that windows does not do a very good job with streaming and requested that I check for "latency" problems (what ever they are but told me how to check). I have tried two different PC's and they act the same but the Ipad does not drop.
Thanks for all the help and will keep all informed. BTW I am paying for 20 M and tests show that most of the time it 22-24 M . I watch Netflex a lot and have no problems and it comes thru the local network. Looks like everything points to the windows program.

Yes Ron it was good to see you and Debbie and glad you made it home after that start. Enjoyed your show. I bought three knobs form Julia I should have bought one more as I miscounted what I needed.

Ron glad you found the problem with the Fisher, all of those small 4.7 mf caps will have to be replaced sooner or later.

Thanks all
Joe

PS. Ron The speaker is fixed and sounds great. Now I will work on the remote.

[w4rtc]

Hi tall one (skyscraper)
I run a speedtest and has never been less than 18 megs.I am paying for 20 so the way it is with netflex I think they are o k altho I am slowly building up the bank account to buy a new router mine is about 5 years old.
Joe